October 9th, 2009 / 9:00 am
Uncategorized

I’d Like to Use a Lifeline

help

There are all kinds of how-to books out there about writing focusing on the craft both broadly and narrowly. What I don’t see are a lot of books or other resources out there for how to start and sustain a literary magazine.

I’m really interested in publishing and seeing magazines succeed. Often times I see small magazines floundering not because they’re not trying hard but because they don’t know what they’re doing. This makes me sad. I think it would be great if an experienced editor could toss them a reliable lifeline unlike the lifeline the brain trust in the video below received.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7nO6JWHaVk

For a while now, I’ve been kicking around the idea of developing an encyclopedia of sorts for editors or wanna be editors—a series of articles or essays, written by editors of journals new and established, discussing what it takes both logistically and conceptually to run a good literary magazine. Topics might include determining editorial scope, mission and focus, recruiting staff, establishing an aesthetic, creating an online presence, handling submissions, developing relationships with writers, defusing angry writers, doing good in the world, design, how to get your magazine printed, fostering an environment that’s open to innovative work and so on.

What kinds of topics would you include in this project? What kinds of things do people need to know before they embark on the folly of running a magazine? Who’s in?

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91 Comments

  1. michael james

      What to look for in your web hosters. What kind of web hoster is most suitable.

      What is the best way to foster free publicity without seeming like a publicity whore.

      What is the best way to foster non-free publicity.

      How many free copies of anything do you give out.

      Are supplemental items good. Such as t-shirts, bookmarks, little toys that look like your magazine mascot or something. Or just strange things only you and your team can come up with. Is this a waste of time?

      Is it possible to use any of the cost of starting a magazine as a tax write off. How do you do this.

      Is it better to go the non-profit route and do you set up as a legitimate business. Or do you run off the books and just hope the gov’t isnt very interested in your little project.

      When do you decide to go to conventions like AWP. Beginning? After you have some legs?

      What are the difficulties of including art/photography along with words in a magazine. What are the benefits…

      This is a good post.

  2. michael james

      What to look for in your web hosters. What kind of web hoster is most suitable.

      What is the best way to foster free publicity without seeming like a publicity whore.

      What is the best way to foster non-free publicity.

      How many free copies of anything do you give out.

      Are supplemental items good. Such as t-shirts, bookmarks, little toys that look like your magazine mascot or something. Or just strange things only you and your team can come up with. Is this a waste of time?

      Is it possible to use any of the cost of starting a magazine as a tax write off. How do you do this.

      Is it better to go the non-profit route and do you set up as a legitimate business. Or do you run off the books and just hope the gov’t isnt very interested in your little project.

      When do you decide to go to conventions like AWP. Beginning? After you have some legs?

      What are the difficulties of including art/photography along with words in a magazine. What are the benefits…

      This is a good post.

  3. Mr. Wonderful

      How much does it cost…
      How not to lose money…

  4. Mr. Wonderful

      How much does it cost…
      How not to lose money…

  5. Gian

      How to remember all of your favorite books so that you can recall them and enjoy their stories in your head when you are homeless from starting a literary magazine and you even had to sell all of your favorite books but who cares because books are so heavy and they were really starting to weigh down your shopping cart and make that same troublesome wheel act up again and again.

  6. Gian

      How to remember all of your favorite books so that you can recall them and enjoy their stories in your head when you are homeless from starting a literary magazine and you even had to sell all of your favorite books but who cares because books are so heavy and they were really starting to weigh down your shopping cart and make that same troublesome wheel act up again and again.

  7. Adam R

      Why do it in the first place? Magazines are for home decor/cats/rotisserie baseball. Books are for literature. Don’t start a magazine, start a press.

      I’m being hyperbolic, but I think it’s a valid point.

      Literary magazines seem to reinforce the notion that poets are the only people who read poetry. How much better would it be to find a way to encourage literary output in the magazines that already exist for a purpose other than literature, magazines that can pay substantial amounts. Aren’t there too many lit mags already?

  8. Adam R

      Why do it in the first place? Magazines are for home decor/cats/rotisserie baseball. Books are for literature. Don’t start a magazine, start a press.

      I’m being hyperbolic, but I think it’s a valid point.

      Literary magazines seem to reinforce the notion that poets are the only people who read poetry. How much better would it be to find a way to encourage literary output in the magazines that already exist for a purpose other than literature, magazines that can pay substantial amounts. Aren’t there too many lit mags already?

  9. Adam R

      That came out jerkier than I meant it to. I’m kind of playing devil’s advocate, and I kind of believe my point a little.

  10. Adam R

      That came out jerkier than I meant it to. I’m kind of playing devil’s advocate, and I kind of believe my point a little.

  11. Gian

      Yes. Too many lit mags. There was room for just one more and we took that spot. Everything after should have been nipped in the Billy Budd.

      I jest. There will always be too many lit mags, just as there will always be too many bands, too many small presses, too many ideas. But there has to be too many so the small amount of good ones can fit in there. What would be ideal is to start a lit mag with intentions of starting a press. This way you get your name established a little and when your press starts up, at least people are familiar with the name a little bit and it might help you with distribution or other kinds of co-publishing deals.

      I get what you mean, Adam, but come on…too many lit mags? I can think of a million other things to write down on the “Too Many” list before lit mags.

  12. Gian

      Yes. Too many lit mags. There was room for just one more and we took that spot. Everything after should have been nipped in the Billy Budd.

      I jest. There will always be too many lit mags, just as there will always be too many bands, too many small presses, too many ideas. But there has to be too many so the small amount of good ones can fit in there. What would be ideal is to start a lit mag with intentions of starting a press. This way you get your name established a little and when your press starts up, at least people are familiar with the name a little bit and it might help you with distribution or other kinds of co-publishing deals.

      I get what you mean, Adam, but come on…too many lit mags? I can think of a million other things to write down on the “Too Many” list before lit mags.

  13. Gian

      But I know what you mean. I really do.

  14. Gian

      But I know what you mean. I really do.

  15. Richard

      What we don’t have ENOUGH of? Literary graphic novels.

  16. Richard

      What we don’t have ENOUGH of? Literary graphic novels.

  17. Adam R

      Yeah, no, right — I mean “too many” in the best sense.

      I want more, but I might want people who are thinking about doing them to do something else instead. Like start a cable access channel.

  18. Adam R

      Yeah, no, right — I mean “too many” in the best sense.

      I want more, but I might want people who are thinking about doing them to do something else instead. Like start a cable access channel.

  19. Roxane

      I would love to see more of these.

  20. Roxane

      I would love to see more of these.

  21. Roxane

      You make a good point but I don’t think there can be too many lit mags. Not everyone wants to be a press. Sometimes people just want to put together a small word concern featuring writing they like.

  22. Roxane

      You make a good point but I don’t think there can be too many lit mags. Not everyone wants to be a press. Sometimes people just want to put together a small word concern featuring writing they like.

  23. Dan Brady

      I’d love to see a resource (website, probably) that included case studies from different literary projects (mags, small presses, reading series, etc.) on what works and what doesn’t and why. There’s really no place an editor can go to get that information other than word of mouth. CLMP does some of this, but not nearly enough. I went to grad school for arts management rather than an MFA because I felt like knowing how nonprofits work and what art infrastructure there is to plug into would be more helpful for projects (not writing itself) in the long run.

      Other topics people starting a lit mag should consider: 501c3 application, fundraising, fiscal sponsorships (being tied to a university), submissions and subscriptions management, marketing…

      I’m with Adam that most people who start literary magazines might be better served doing something else to promote the work they believe in, but I’m also with Roxane that I don’t think there can be too many. I think often there are too many magazines that are exactly the same. That’s where the trouble is. You’ve got to be doing something different, publishing different writers, for a different audience, with a different twist, to make your magazine worth reading. Most independent magazines achieve this because they have to, while mags that come out of universities tend to be a bit more generic. Until the economic collapse they didn’t have to worry as much about their own sustainability the way some dude trying to run a small press out of his garage might.

      I think funding in general is an area that the writing community could use an overhaul. Other than the NEA and state arts agencies, there’s not a lot out there for these kinds of projects and even those government funders only support 501c3s. Foundations that support arts and culture rarely support literary magazines and small presses. I’d like to see that change for sure. I think sites like Kickstarter, Sprout, and Facebook Causes are promising for smaller projects, but everyone is still figuring out how it works. Even then, how do you find the people who are likely to support your or how do they find you? With a small community, you can’t keep going back to the same people and expect them to support everything.

      I could go on, but I think this is already the longest comment I’ve ever written on a blog so I’ll stop there.

  24. Dan Brady

      I’d love to see a resource (website, probably) that included case studies from different literary projects (mags, small presses, reading series, etc.) on what works and what doesn’t and why. There’s really no place an editor can go to get that information other than word of mouth. CLMP does some of this, but not nearly enough. I went to grad school for arts management rather than an MFA because I felt like knowing how nonprofits work and what art infrastructure there is to plug into would be more helpful for projects (not writing itself) in the long run.

      Other topics people starting a lit mag should consider: 501c3 application, fundraising, fiscal sponsorships (being tied to a university), submissions and subscriptions management, marketing…

      I’m with Adam that most people who start literary magazines might be better served doing something else to promote the work they believe in, but I’m also with Roxane that I don’t think there can be too many. I think often there are too many magazines that are exactly the same. That’s where the trouble is. You’ve got to be doing something different, publishing different writers, for a different audience, with a different twist, to make your magazine worth reading. Most independent magazines achieve this because they have to, while mags that come out of universities tend to be a bit more generic. Until the economic collapse they didn’t have to worry as much about their own sustainability the way some dude trying to run a small press out of his garage might.

      I think funding in general is an area that the writing community could use an overhaul. Other than the NEA and state arts agencies, there’s not a lot out there for these kinds of projects and even those government funders only support 501c3s. Foundations that support arts and culture rarely support literary magazines and small presses. I’d like to see that change for sure. I think sites like Kickstarter, Sprout, and Facebook Causes are promising for smaller projects, but everyone is still figuring out how it works. Even then, how do you find the people who are likely to support your or how do they find you? With a small community, you can’t keep going back to the same people and expect them to support everything.

      I could go on, but I think this is already the longest comment I’ve ever written on a blog so I’ll stop there.

  25. Adam R

      I thought the question was about how to do something successfully.

  26. Adam R

      I thought the question was about how to do something successfully.

  27. Adam R

      One good question would be, how do we define success?

  28. Adam R

      One good question would be, how do we define success?

  29. Clapper

      What would be useful to me personally would be how the hell the stuff gets printed and distributed. What’s it cost? What should we be looking for in a printer? What’s postage look like? I’m totally comfortable with all the ins and outs of running an online magazine, and would happily share any information with new editors. But when it comes to the print side of things, I’m just completely awed and clueless. Hobart’s “Big World” with the colored pages blew my wee brain. Publishing Genius, Dzanc, all of ’em… I’m awed and cowed, and it’s mostly to do with the logistics/costs of print. I just have no idea at all what things SHOULD cost, how long they take to put together, any of that. Hence, no SmokeLong artifact (except annuals via Cafe Press the first couple years, which I sort of hated).

  30. Clapper

      What would be useful to me personally would be how the hell the stuff gets printed and distributed. What’s it cost? What should we be looking for in a printer? What’s postage look like? I’m totally comfortable with all the ins and outs of running an online magazine, and would happily share any information with new editors. But when it comes to the print side of things, I’m just completely awed and clueless. Hobart’s “Big World” with the colored pages blew my wee brain. Publishing Genius, Dzanc, all of ’em… I’m awed and cowed, and it’s mostly to do with the logistics/costs of print. I just have no idea at all what things SHOULD cost, how long they take to put together, any of that. Hence, no SmokeLong artifact (except annuals via Cafe Press the first couple years, which I sort of hated).

  31. Roxane

      Dave, I totally agree about printing questions and I would love to see a resource addressing printing because it really does help to have some sense of what it all means. The more you know before requesting print quotations, the better off you’ll be. If you have any questions between now and when this fantasy project comes to fruition, please feel free to drop me a line.

  32. Roxane

      Dave, I totally agree about printing questions and I would love to see a resource addressing printing because it really does help to have some sense of what it all means. The more you know before requesting print quotations, the better off you’ll be. If you have any questions between now and when this fantasy project comes to fruition, please feel free to drop me a line.

  33. Roxane

      Adam, true. That is a good question. There are any number of measures of success.

  34. Roxane

      Adam, true. That is a good question. There are any number of measures of success.

  35. Adam R

      I wonder if PHMadore’s Underground Library would be a good forum for this? It’s a Wiki, so generous publishers could input there know-how in pages called, like, “Good Printers” and “What’s CMYK” and “Promotions.”

  36. Adam R

      I wonder if PHMadore’s Underground Library would be a good forum for this? It’s a Wiki, so generous publishers could input there know-how in pages called, like, “Good Printers” and “What’s CMYK” and “Promotions.”

  37. Ryan Call

      that is a good idea

  38. Ryan Call

      that is a good idea

  39. Dan Brady

      The latest quote from McNaughton Gunn for an issue of Barrelhouse (about 250 pages perfect bound) was roughly $2500 for 1000 copies. We would be eligible for a 10% discount through CLMP too. CLMP membership offers a few discounts with printers. You can read more about that here: http://www.clmp.org/join/discounts.html

  40. Dan Brady

      The latest quote from McNaughton Gunn for an issue of Barrelhouse (about 250 pages perfect bound) was roughly $2500 for 1000 copies. We would be eligible for a 10% discount through CLMP too. CLMP membership offers a few discounts with printers. You can read more about that here: http://www.clmp.org/join/discounts.html

  41. Tim Jones-Yelvington

      Sounds like a great idea — don’t see anything infrastructure-related on your list? Becoming sustainable? Determining whether or how much to institutionalize, cash flow & financial management, fundraising, etc.

  42. Tim Jones-Yelvington

      Sounds like a great idea — don’t see anything infrastructure-related on your list? Becoming sustainable? Determining whether or how much to institutionalize, cash flow & financial management, fundraising, etc.

  43. Tim Jones-Yelvington

      my memory of the “Big World” colored pages thing is it ended up not working out to have the printer do it, and Aaron colored the edges himself w/ a marker or something.

  44. Tim Jones-Yelvington

      my memory of the “Big World” colored pages thing is it ended up not working out to have the printer do it, and Aaron colored the edges himself w/ a marker or something.

  45. Tim Jones-Yelvington

      I have wondered abt that with foundation support — based upon my experience of the philanthropic sector (which admittedly hasn’t involved a lot of interaction w/ explicitly arts-oriented funders, but more social change or social service-oriented folks), I can absolutely see foundation folks saying, “Nice magazine, what else do you do?”

  46. Tim Jones-Yelvington

      I have wondered abt that with foundation support — based upon my experience of the philanthropic sector (which admittedly hasn’t involved a lot of interaction w/ explicitly arts-oriented funders, but more social change or social service-oriented folks), I can absolutely see foundation folks saying, “Nice magazine, what else do you do?”

  47. Tim Jones-Yelvington

      “How much better would it be to find a way to encourage literary output in the magazines that already exist for a purpose other than literature.”

      This is provocative, but I think really challenging during a moment when profit-driven print media is in crisis. I wonder what it would take?

  48. Tim Jones-Yelvington

      “How much better would it be to find a way to encourage literary output in the magazines that already exist for a purpose other than literature.”

      This is provocative, but I think really challenging during a moment when profit-driven print media is in crisis. I wonder what it would take?

  49. Lincoln

      Too many lit mags, but not too many good ones.

  50. Lincoln

      Too many lit mags, but not too many good ones.

  51. Mr. Wonderful

      Aren’t there plenty already? Fantagraphics, Drawn & Quarterly, Top Shelf are three big publishers of literary graphic novels, and there are a lot of smaller ones.

      How do you define “literary graphic novel”? I love comics and I’m overwhelmed by the huge amount of great stuff out there.

  52. Mr. Wonderful

      Aren’t there plenty already? Fantagraphics, Drawn & Quarterly, Top Shelf are three big publishers of literary graphic novels, and there are a lot of smaller ones.

      How do you define “literary graphic novel”? I love comics and I’m overwhelmed by the huge amount of great stuff out there.

  53. Lincoln

      Yeah I thought Richard was making a joke?

  54. Lincoln

      Yeah I thought Richard was making a joke?

  55. Dan Wickett

      You’re right that he did it himself, I believe he screen printed them as he was also doing t-shirts at that time right before AWP.

  56. Dan Wickett

      You’re right that he did it himself, I believe he screen printed them as he was also doing t-shirts at that time right before AWP.

  57. Dan Wickett

      Printing is one of the strangest things we’ve dealt with – it’s almost as if they’ve all decided they can only handle so much business and will really go after some jobs or customers and not others. One of the first things we did at Dzanc was ask Hobart, Absinthe, other indie publishers, etc. who they used. Nearly everybody had a favorite, nearly everybody thought at least one printer was priced insanely high, or were horrible to deal with, etc. If I took those names and made two lists – good and bad, nearly every printer was on both lists. We quoted them all and one printer has consistently been lower and done a job we’ve been happy with on our books.

  58. Dan Wickett

      Printing is one of the strangest things we’ve dealt with – it’s almost as if they’ve all decided they can only handle so much business and will really go after some jobs or customers and not others. One of the first things we did at Dzanc was ask Hobart, Absinthe, other indie publishers, etc. who they used. Nearly everybody had a favorite, nearly everybody thought at least one printer was priced insanely high, or were horrible to deal with, etc. If I took those names and made two lists – good and bad, nearly every printer was on both lists. We quoted them all and one printer has consistently been lower and done a job we’ve been happy with on our books.

  59. Dan Wickett

      Distribution. The world of literary journal distribution to me is insane. I don’t remember the name of the company that was around for so long, a woman and I believer her daughter ran it (DeBoer maybe?), but word got around that Aaron at Hobart had ACTUALLY received a check from her and it was like he was the king of the litmag world for a while. In the book world the concept of returns is ridiculous, but in the litmag world it’s even worse – rip off the covers and toss them in the trash? Talk about a trusting accounting system for the publisher – we sent you 20 and only 1 got sold? You ripped off the covers and tossed the other 19? Cool, send me my $1.56. Wow.

      Postage on sending out copies will vary on how you send it – media mail being the cheapest but then you also have to buy the envelopes. Sending priority gets you free envelopes but nearly $5 shipping fees (but also for some reason to me, a larger sense that the package won’t get lost – something about that priority label). I haven’t looked at any incoming media mail envelopes lately but would guess in the $2-3 range? Somebody else may be more helpful here.

      On the plus side, new friends via the clerks at the USPS!

  60. Dan Wickett

      Distribution. The world of literary journal distribution to me is insane. I don’t remember the name of the company that was around for so long, a woman and I believer her daughter ran it (DeBoer maybe?), but word got around that Aaron at Hobart had ACTUALLY received a check from her and it was like he was the king of the litmag world for a while. In the book world the concept of returns is ridiculous, but in the litmag world it’s even worse – rip off the covers and toss them in the trash? Talk about a trusting accounting system for the publisher – we sent you 20 and only 1 got sold? You ripped off the covers and tossed the other 19? Cool, send me my $1.56. Wow.

      Postage on sending out copies will vary on how you send it – media mail being the cheapest but then you also have to buy the envelopes. Sending priority gets you free envelopes but nearly $5 shipping fees (but also for some reason to me, a larger sense that the package won’t get lost – something about that priority label). I haven’t looked at any incoming media mail envelopes lately but would guess in the $2-3 range? Somebody else may be more helpful here.

      On the plus side, new friends via the clerks at the USPS!

  61. Roxane

      We use McNaughton Gunn too and are quite happy with them but our mag is 8 x 8 so it’s a bit pricey to print. That’s a great price for 1,000 books.

  62. Roxane

      We use McNaughton Gunn too and are quite happy with them but our mag is 8 x 8 so it’s a bit pricey to print. That’s a great price for 1,000 books.

  63. dave

      This is a great topic, Roxane. I think printing and the financial issues are really the big ones here. Those are the things that will allow you to keep on keeping on, you know? Regardless of editorial decisions, etc. It’s probably the worst money-making decision you’ll ever make (starting a literary magazine), but you do need to find some way to stand on your feet eventually, if you’re going to keep on doing it. And I say that as one sixth of a group that’s always kind of wobbling, but has managed so far, at least.

      I agree with Adam that this seems like a topic/community that would lend itself well to a wiki. We could put something up on the Barrelhouse server if it seems like that’s something folks would use. I know I’d like to have a place to talk about this stuff.

  64. dave

      This is a great topic, Roxane. I think printing and the financial issues are really the big ones here. Those are the things that will allow you to keep on keeping on, you know? Regardless of editorial decisions, etc. It’s probably the worst money-making decision you’ll ever make (starting a literary magazine), but you do need to find some way to stand on your feet eventually, if you’re going to keep on doing it. And I say that as one sixth of a group that’s always kind of wobbling, but has managed so far, at least.

      I agree with Adam that this seems like a topic/community that would lend itself well to a wiki. We could put something up on the Barrelhouse server if it seems like that’s something folks would use. I know I’d like to have a place to talk about this stuff.

  65. Roxane

      That sounds great Dave. I too would love a place to talk about this stuff because it is so overwhelming, when you’re just starting out, to figure out how to handle the logistics. Maybe we could do a collabo! I like Wikis. If you’re interested, drop me a line at roxane at roxanegay dot com and we can chit and chat.

  66. Roxane

      That sounds great Dave. I too would love a place to talk about this stuff because it is so overwhelming, when you’re just starting out, to figure out how to handle the logistics. Maybe we could do a collabo! I like Wikis. If you’re interested, drop me a line at roxane at roxanegay dot com and we can chit and chat.

  67. Kyle Minor

      This is a small thing, w/r/t literary magazine publishing, but the only way Frostproof Review ever did anything toward recouping printing costs was by holding local readings with contributors and promoting the hell out of them locally, and pressing everyone to buy a copy. We once sold 100 copies in an hour in Lexington, Kentucky, this way. We always lost money on subscriptions, by the way.

      The way to go, if money’s not an issue, would be to distribute the journals for free to an audience predisposed to be interested in them, by way of a free subscription database, which would be self-selecting. (The Internet would make this easy, I’d think.) If I ever do another journal, it’ll be because I’ve become rich, and can do the whole thing as a tax writeoff, pay all the writers, hire great designers, print everything in four color, publish quarterly, distribute free subscriptions (up to, say, 1000), recruit my favorite writers to flagship the thing, maybe buy the rights to an old magazine name such as Collier’s or Story, and call this the new incarnation.

  68. Kyle Minor

      This is a small thing, w/r/t literary magazine publishing, but the only way Frostproof Review ever did anything toward recouping printing costs was by holding local readings with contributors and promoting the hell out of them locally, and pressing everyone to buy a copy. We once sold 100 copies in an hour in Lexington, Kentucky, this way. We always lost money on subscriptions, by the way.

      The way to go, if money’s not an issue, would be to distribute the journals for free to an audience predisposed to be interested in them, by way of a free subscription database, which would be self-selecting. (The Internet would make this easy, I’d think.) If I ever do another journal, it’ll be because I’ve become rich, and can do the whole thing as a tax writeoff, pay all the writers, hire great designers, print everything in four color, publish quarterly, distribute free subscriptions (up to, say, 1000), recruit my favorite writers to flagship the thing, maybe buy the rights to an old magazine name such as Collier’s or Story, and call this the new incarnation.

  69. Kyle Minor

      And also, I should say, hire an operational staff and pay them well — a managing editor such as Aaron Burch, for starters, or someone like him, by which I mean someone who has built a thing from the ground up with zero resources and done well anyway, and say, “Here, you who has done well with little, take much and build something significant,” and by significant, I mean culturally significant, in a way few literary journals really can be, on account of the lack of resources to embed themselves in the cultural conversation the same way The New Yorker can (for better or worse), or the way Ted Solotaroff’s journal could back in the days when it was distributed by a major New York house and serving as the preview venue for whatever would later win the National Book Award.

  70. Kyle Minor

      And also, I should say, hire an operational staff and pay them well — a managing editor such as Aaron Burch, for starters, or someone like him, by which I mean someone who has built a thing from the ground up with zero resources and done well anyway, and say, “Here, you who has done well with little, take much and build something significant,” and by significant, I mean culturally significant, in a way few literary journals really can be, on account of the lack of resources to embed themselves in the cultural conversation the same way The New Yorker can (for better or worse), or the way Ted Solotaroff’s journal could back in the days when it was distributed by a major New York house and serving as the preview venue for whatever would later win the National Book Award.

  71. PHM

      This is of course a welcome and worthy notion. Of course everyone appreciates UL much more in principle than they do in action. I should make a new award for Adam Robinson.

      Anyway, the best way to do this will be to make a Category for it. To do that all you have to do is put the phrase Category:_Category_ at the bottom of the page. Replace _Category_ with whatever you want to call this thing, such as How-To. If everyone writing these kinds of articles agrees that’s the best Category for it, they all just then agree to do that. It’s a good way to keep them all together.

      I wanted Adam to know that by putting my name into the comment about Underground Library he reduced the chances of it actually happening by roughly 900%. 2009’s not over yet. Definitely not my best year.

  72. PHM

      This is of course a welcome and worthy notion. Of course everyone appreciates UL much more in principle than they do in action. I should make a new award for Adam Robinson.

      Anyway, the best way to do this will be to make a Category for it. To do that all you have to do is put the phrase Category:_Category_ at the bottom of the page. Replace _Category_ with whatever you want to call this thing, such as How-To. If everyone writing these kinds of articles agrees that’s the best Category for it, they all just then agree to do that. It’s a good way to keep them all together.

      I wanted Adam to know that by putting my name into the comment about Underground Library he reduced the chances of it actually happening by roughly 900%. 2009’s not over yet. Definitely not my best year.

  73. Roxane

      The UL is such a fine resource but your martyr complex and overblown sense of persecution get in the way. You set up self-fulfilling prophecies when you say things like “putting my name blah blah blah.” Do you really think people are thinking that hard about you? I thought Adam’s idea was great until you posted your comment.

  74. Roxane

      The UL is such a fine resource but your martyr complex and overblown sense of persecution get in the way. You set up self-fulfilling prophecies when you say things like “putting my name blah blah blah.” Do you really think people are thinking that hard about you? I thought Adam’s idea was great until you posted your comment.

  75. Clapper

      I still think Adam’s idea is great. Would love to see folks do this. Hell, I’m there creating articles all the time anyway, I’ll go ahead and create some how-to articles on publishing an online lit mag.

  76. Clapper

      I still think Adam’s idea is great. Would love to see folks do this. Hell, I’m there creating articles all the time anyway, I’ll go ahead and create some how-to articles on publishing an online lit mag.

  77. Clapper

      If it makes you feel better to use UL w/o engaging Paul’s martyr complex, there are a few other folks who are pretty damned committed to making it work. And hell, it’s already set up. A wiki’s a wiki. Why splinter efforts when one already exists?

  78. Clapper

      If it makes you feel better to use UL w/o engaging Paul’s martyr complex, there are a few other folks who are pretty damned committed to making it work. And hell, it’s already set up. A wiki’s a wiki. Why splinter efforts when one already exists?

  79. Starting a lit zine » Unstressed

      […] HTMLGIANT asks its readers what topics they’d like to see addressed in a comprehensive resource for anyone looking to start a literary magazine. […]

  80. PHM

      I just don’t think it’s fair to associate me with the thing every time people mention it. Not to me or to the project. Dave Clapper’s put twice the time and effort I have into it. Call it Dave Clapper’s Underground Library. People fucking hate me and even if they think something’s a “great resource” they’re not going to contribute to it if they think somehow they’re getting my rocks off–which they apparently do. There I go again.

  81. PHM

      I just don’t think it’s fair to associate me with the thing every time people mention it. Not to me or to the project. Dave Clapper’s put twice the time and effort I have into it. Call it Dave Clapper’s Underground Library. People fucking hate me and even if they think something’s a “great resource” they’re not going to contribute to it if they think somehow they’re getting my rocks off–which they apparently do. There I go again.

  82. Ryan Call

      im impressed everytime i look at the recent activity to see how much clapper has done on that thing. jeez.

  83. Ryan Call

      im impressed everytime i look at the recent activity to see how much clapper has done on that thing. jeez.

  84. What you think I rap for? | Barrelhouse

      […] This topic has clearly been on other people’s minds, too. Most notably, our pal Roxane Gay whose posts at HTML GIANT have consistently raised the issue of how to improve the infrastructure of […]

  85. PHM

      OSS developers know the answer to this question better than we do, Dave.

  86. PHM

      OSS developers know the answer to this question better than we do, Dave.

  87. Clapper

      Thanks, Ryan. I’ve really wanted a lit wiki like this for a while now. Paul beat me to the punch actually setting it up. And it’s a gas creating the articles. I keep learning about markets and writers I didn’t know of (or only knew peripherally) before.

  88. Clapper

      Thanks, Ryan. I’ve really wanted a lit wiki like this for a while now. Paul beat me to the punch actually setting it up. And it’s a gas creating the articles. I keep learning about markets and writers I didn’t know of (or only knew peripherally) before.

  89. exadore

      did anyone ever bother to put this on UL? if so, I’d be interested in seeing it, but I haven’t been able to find it.

  90. exadore

      did anyone ever bother to put this on UL? if so, I’d be interested in seeing it, but I haven’t been able to find it.

  91. HTMLGIANT / An Indie Publishing Wiki

      […] while ago I talked about how I wished there were some kind of resource for independent publishers great and small and then Dave Housley and I started talking about how it […]